The Arkansas Department of Transportation awarded $9.7 million worth of grants Nov. 20 through its Transportation Alternatives Program or TAP and Recreational Trails Program or RTP for 2018; a reimbursement-type grant program authorized by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation or FAST Act that provides for an 80 percent federal share and a 20 percent local match from eligible applicants.

[Above photo by Arkansas DOT.]

For 2018, the agency said in a statement that total of 30 TAP projects received $8.1 million in funding, while $1.6 million went to 16 RTP projects for $1.6 million.

Photo by Arkansas DOT

Under the TAP program, the Arkansas DOT noted that eligible projects can include construction of on-road and off-road trail facilities that include sidewalks, bicycle infrastructure, pedestrian and bicycle signals, lighting, and other safety-related infrastructure. Conversion of abandoned railroad corridors for pedestrian and bicycle trails is also eligible for monies, the agency pointed out.

The Arkansas DOT noted a few of the larger TAP projects funded via those recent grants include the Delta Heritage Trail from Watson to the Arkansas River, the downtown streetscape in Pine Bluff, phase four of the rehabilitation of the Old River Bridge over the Saline River, and phase four of the Craighead Forest Greenway Trail.

Meanwhile, the agency’s RTP effort is funded through a portion of TAP funds set aside specifically for recreational trails; monies eligible for maintenance and restoration of existing trails, development and rehabilitation of trailside and trailhead facilities and trail linkages, and construction of new trails. The Arkansas DOT said RTP projects via its recent grants include an addition to the Veteran’s Park Trail in Decatur, rehabilitation of the Ouachita Trail at Pinnacle Mountain State Park, and phase one of the Stone Dam Creek Trail in Conway.